SSS Ranked Awakening: I Can Rewind Time!-Chapter 36: Strange Phenomena.

The grueling days quickly passed by as we made our way through the dark maze, moving towards the northern region. Or rather, the promise of salvation it held.

With me serving as a source of distraction, and other times, striking insidiously from the shadows, along with Mia’s fearsome battle prowess, we were able to cut a bloody path through the ranks of numerous nightmarish aberrations. If with harrowing wounds and grim, near-death encounters.

The journey was grueling to say the least. But at the same time, it was a rather pleasant one.

A smirk crept up my features as I stared at the runes before me.

Dark Fragments: [65/100]

Which was to say that over the course of the few days since we continued journeying north, I had slained a total of twenty four nightmarish creatures. While the number might not seem much, only those who were unfortunate enough to engage in such brutal warfare would understand the inconceivable difficulty behind it.

The thought brought a dark smile to my lips.

...All in all, as grim as our situation was, it also at the same time presented a decent opportunity. If only it wasn’t so hard and dangerous to get.

With a light exhalation, I shrugged it off and dismissed the runes. Raising my head up, I caught a glimpse of the large gaping wound in the sky. Crimson liquid seeped through the cracks in the shimmering void, sigil-etched structures looming in the far distance.

All around us, abysmal-like trees swayed and stretched towards the sky, as though to pierce through it. The sight of the trees brought a dark expression to my face.

After all, if there was anything I had learnt in this cursed and wretched land, that was the fact that no thing... or being was harmless. On the contrary, the more harmless a creature seemed to be, the more susceptible to harm one was around them.

With a grim expression marring my features, I hurriedly caught up with the others.

Step! Step--!

As we moved through the dark maze, a strange sense of unease settled over us. And the further we moved, the more pronounced it became.

It almost felt as though we were leaving the dark maze behind, and... heading into a much more dreadful region of the world of nightmares.

And as if to make matters worse, the surroundings usually teeming with hordes of nightmarish aberrations were now devoid of them. Instead, all that could be seen was a solemn sense of desolation. Far more than it ought to be.

The air was stifling and quiet, its silent rustle sending cold chills slithering down our spines.

Step- Step--

Our footsteps resounded in the darkness, its solemn sound mirroring the frantic pace of our heartbeats.

Ba- thump. Ba- thump.

...Oftentimes, the dark maze could be quiet and eeriely silent. However, there was something different about this silence. Something that made every hair at the back of my neck stand on end. With a grim expression, I took another step forward, hands twitching around the azure dagger.

It was then that the sky darkened. However, unlike the natural darkness, the endless darkness coating the cracked sky felt different. Something about it just didn’t sit well with me.

Gritting my teeth, I shoved down the various paranoid thoughts.

’Paranoid thoughts. Yeah. That’s what they had to be.’ I told myself, even if somewhere within me, I knew the chilling truth.

Right about then, the sky rumbled violently, thunder brewing within its coated, cracked surface. And then-

Cracka--!!

Lightning struck. Its blinding purplish light illuminated the world of nightmares, immediately followed by deafening thunderclaps.

As the sky rumbled, a grim expression darkened my features.

’Don’t tell me it’s already starting... Livia’s vision.’

My body tensed at the thought. And judging by the other’s facial expressions, I wasn’t the only one to have arrived at such a conclusion. However, no one said anything.

In the tense silence, we simply marched forward, avoiding as many nightmarish creatures as possible. And thanks to the fact that the horde of nightmarish aberrations were scantier and less fearsome, the task proved to be less difficult.

Even the crimson haired lady no longer had any intention of confronting any nightmarish creature as opposed to her persona and way of doing things. And I could guess the most likely reason for that:

’She was preserving her energy.’ The thought darkened my features, a grim sense of apprehension rising within me.

If even Mia was filled with such solemn sense of apprehension, what more of me?

...Before long, we soon started to see clues that pointed to the blind girl’s vision. Clues we hoped we’d never see.

Right before us, as we stood amidst towering nightmarish trees, looming dark rocks, and jagged mountain features, bright crimson liquid flowed endlessly along their slopes and cracks, spreading for as far as the eyes could see.

Flesh, bones, joints, and internal organs that seemed to have been ripped off their inhabitants were strewn acoss the crimson floor, littering the ground in an oddly manner, as though whoever had committed such gruesome macabre was following some sort of hidden pattern.

S-Some sort of psychopathic pattern.

It was then that a voice resounded in the darkness:

"It’s here."

Mia’s grip on her sword tightened as she turned to face the blind girl. With an inscrutable expression, she asked:

"Where?"

"I-I don’t know," the blind girl paused, her voice trembling, "I-I just know it’s nearby."

’What a great information that was.’ I laughter bitterly at the blind girl’s words, the laugh devoid of humor.

Instead, it was laced with mirth and mirrored the hollowness that clung to my heart. It mirrored the sense of dread slowly rising within me.

Wasn’t it already so obvious that it was nearby. The carnage, the eerie silence, and the massive shadows that crawled beneath our skins. They already said it all, hadn’t they?

’It’s here. But... where?’

Mia glanced at the tenebrous sky, and said after a few moments of total silence.

"We keep moving."

A few moments later, just as we moved through the pile of carcasses, and the morbid muddle of crimson blood pooling beneath us, the sky turned a darker shade, and then-

RUMBLE!!

A blinding light streaked through the sky, purplish and eerie dark, it arced through the cracked sky, immediately followed by deafening thunderclaps that threatened to drown our ears in eternal silence. Slowly, a drop of liquid fell onto the ground.

Tak--

The sound echoed through the tense silence.

Tak, Tak--

With solemn expressions, we braved forward just as the dark liquid continued to fall with increased intensity. fгee𝑤ebɳoveɭ.cøm

Tok- Tak- Tak--

The sound started to grow in intensity, and so did the deafening howls it brought with it. The strange scene sent cold chills slithering down our spines.

’Damnation!’

With a deep scowl marring my features, I stared at the tenebrous sky, and in that moment, I just had this ominous feeling about this whole strange phenomenon. And even more so were the unsettling questions:

Was it raining because of this entity, or was this just some sort of coincidence?

I didn’t know. But with the little I knew about this damned luck of mine, I was somehow learning towards the former.

With a deep exhalation, I clenched my hands and took hurried steps forward.

***

Step, Step--

As we walked past the carcasses strewn across the floor, light tremors ran beneath us, mirroring the frantic pace at which our hearts were beating.

Ba- thump! Ba- thump!

The sound echoed through the silence. And just when the silence and quiet grew to an unbearable extent.

Click.

Suddenly, it felt as if all source of light had been erased from existence. And all that remained was an endless darkness.

A suffocating darkness. One that was cold and... terrifying.

In that moment, it felt as though numerous eyes were staring at us from the darkness beyond.

"Be prepared." Mia’s subtle voice rang through the tense silence.

I grimaced, nodded, and gripped the azure dagger tighter.

***

Livia’s grip on her twin brother tightened, her body trembling as she fought against the fear that threatened to overwhelmed her.

"...I-I’m scared Aezel," the blind girl trembled as she spoke, fear seeping into her voice.

Aezel glanced and her and forced a smile.

"It’s okay Liv. It’s gonna be fine."

He comforted her. However, his clenched fists betrayed the boldness in his voice.

As his gaze lingered on his sister, he knew he couldn’t allow anything to happen to her. She was his responsibility.

...S-She was everything to him.

In that moment, his grip on his arrow tightened further.

’Even if it meant going all out and risking divine retribution, he would do anything to make sure that nothing... no one touched a single strand of her hair.’

He would.

***

A grim expression settled on my face.

As I stared into the endless darkness, just as lightning bolts streaked through the lightless void, illuminating the darkness for the briefest of seconds, my eyes shrunk and my heartbeat suddenly accelerated tremendously.

Ba- thump! Ba- thump!

My gaze landed on a figure coated in endless darkness.

Somehow...

"...!!"

Something about the figure unnerved me in ways I couldn’t quite place my hands on.

In that moment, it was as though I had lost the ability to speak. Each time I tried to speak, to breathe, only sharp exhalations escaped my lips.

Fear and dread were slowly consuming me. However, albeit barely, I was somehow able to resist them.

With my enhanced vision in the dark, I tried to pierce through the darkness that laid before me. With squinted eyes, I stared at what appeared to be a dark mass of endless shadows, crimson liquid dripping down its fingers, as its body heaved up and down, in what appeared to be... excitement?

My gaze laid fixed on the figure’s back. And as though sensing my gaze, its head slowly bent at an inhuman angle.

Crack, Crack--!

A deep sense of terror suddenly rose within me. A strong sense of unease settling within me.

...The silence became even louder. And,

My heart started to beat faster. And as my body trembled violently, I found myself sinking into an unending abyss.

Click.

Everywhere suddenly went quiet and... dark. And then,

Flick--!

"..."

It stared right back at me.